A steady diet of tournament competition against quality opponents served the South Delta Sun Devils well at the inaugural South Fraser AAA Zone Field Hockey Championships.
The Sun Devils rolled to a pair of convincing victories to capture the title and secure a berth in next week’s provincial AAA championships in North Vancouver.
South Delta opened with a 5-0 win against Enver Creek and defeated Richmond’s McMath Wildcats by the same score in the final.
“We had played them in September and did not have a lot of problems against them, but we knew that while we were a better team and playing well, McMath would be better as well,” said longtime SDSS coach Neil McLennan. “They have a couple of dangerous players but our experience at the various tournaments had taught us valuable lessons in how to spot key players and adjust accordingly to manage them on the field.
“The girls were pretty much flying from the start and never allowed McMath to get into their stride and by halftime it was 4-0. The second half was more controlled as we moved the ball around and just managed the pace of the game.”
McLennan knows the importance of tournament play for his girls, especially in preparation for provincials where the quality of opponents increases dramatically from zone playdowns.
South Delta headed to Victoria for the Bridgman Cup — considered the pinnacle tournament for high school girls field hockey each year.
The Sun Devils captured their pool group with a 3-0 record, highlighted by a 1-0 win over AA perennial powerhouse Crofton House. They also defeated a pair of Victoria schools — Mt. Doug and Glen Lyon.
That set the stage for a quarter-final match-up with Kelowna and a contrast of styles. The Owls’ direct approach and some missed defensive assignments resulted in a 2-0 lead. The Devils cut the deficit to one and missed a penalty stroke in the late going.
It was onto placement play where the girls dropped a close 2-1 decision to Little Flower Academy. A rematch with Crofton House followed and a sudden-death shootout win for seventh place thanks to some terrific goalkeeping from Sydney Rosler and goals from Tessa Everett, Elly Tilsley, Kayla Guraliuk, Campbell Brown and Natalie Anderson.
Next was the Golden Pumpkin Tournament in Surrey and round-robin games against Argyle, Kelowna, Kitsilano and JT Crowe. South Delta finished with an unbeaten 3-0-1 record — highlighted by an impressive 2-0 win over Kelowna.
“We were quite excited to play them again,” added McLennan. “It was an excellent game for us right from the start and we pretty much did not give Kelowna much of a chance. Girls played really well and some new tactics which they were keen to try to shut down whatever Kelowna had to offer on attack.”
